A TOOL packer was severely injured after falling down two metres down a lift shift and a loaded cage trolley landed on top of him.

Long serving James Douglas had to be freed by colleagues at tool and saw manufacturing firm L.S.Starrett in Jedburgh, following the accident in June, 2013.

The 62-year-old was rushed to hospital and was treated for several fractures to his right hip and heel as well as tissue damage to knees and lower legs.

He underwent surgery that included the insertion of four screws in his hip.

At Jedburgh Sheriff Court, the Massachusetts-based company - which employs 175 people at its Scottish factory - was fined £3,000 after admitting safety failings.

Under the legislation the maximum penalty is £20,000 but Sheriff Kevin Drummond regarded it at “the lower end of the scale” taking into account the firm’s unblemished safety record.

The court was told that Mr Douglas, who had worked for the company for 46 years after starting at 16, was transporting a loaded cage trolley, weighing around 519kg in total, from the upper level of the despatch area to the lower level using one of the three table lifts.

He saw that the lift gates were open, but the platform was not at the upper level so he moved to edge of the lift shaft to look down and see if anyone was using the lift at the lower level.

However, as he looked down he lost his balance and fell down into lift shaft, landing on the platform two metres below.

The loaded cage then fell on top of him, trapping him from the top of his legs to his feet until colleagues arrived to free him.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive revealed that had The L S Starrett Company Ltd carried out a suitable risk assessment in advance it would have identified the fact that it was possible for the gates at the upper level to be opened even if the platform was at the lower level, which exposed workers to the risk of falling down the lift shaft.

The lifts were subject to a thorough examination every six months, as required under legislation, but the contractor had failed to notice this issue.

L.S.Starrett pleaded guilty on Friday afternoon to breaching Section 2(1) of the Heralth and Safety at Work Act 1974.

HSE inspector Norman Buchanan said: “This incident could have easily been avoided if The L S Starrett Company Ltd had carried out a risk assessment, which would have identified the fact that the upper level gates could be opened when the platform was not there.

“It would have been reasonably practicable for the company to have installed inter-locks and platform positioning sensors, as they did later.

“Such devices are considered as a standard requirement in lift installations throughout residential, industrial and commercial buildings, and their omission in this case was a critical factor in the cause of this incident.

“The fact that the company did install such devices afterwards shows that this was a reasonably practicable measure which they could have taken, had they done so Mr Douglas would not have suffered such serious injuries.”